In the past, there has been a desire to utilize more, than one type of fluid that is utilized as fuel for virtually any type of gas-powered devices including, but not limited to, furnaces, heaters, fireplaces, engines, and so forth.
Typically, most gas-powered devices require some type of regulation of the gas pressure. Two types of common fluids used as fuels include liquefied petroleum, e.g., liquid propane, and natural gas. There are major differences between these two fuels since they are supplied to the gas-powered devices at different pressures and they have different burning characteristics. For example, in a furnace or burner application, the typical pressure value for natural gas is 3.5 inches H2O while the typical pressure value for liquefied petroleum is 10.0 inches H2O. Therefore, a pressure regulator for a gas-powered device must regulate to a lower pressure for natural gas than for higher pressure than for liquefied petroleum.
Unfortunately, it is not always known what type of fuel will be available. In some situations, one type is available initially and then another type of fuel is available later. Also, there are situations when both are available but one is much less costly.
There are various situations in which it is not known at the outset, which type of fuel gas will be used, and/or in which the type of fuel gas may be changed at some point during the operating life of the device such as a furnace or other appliance. Either situation often occurs with a gas fireplace. Another common situation is in connection with new construction of permanent fixed location dwellings. Initially, natural gas may not be available because underground gas lines are not in place in the area, or because hook up to natural gas lines is delayed by frozen ground, or for other reasons. What is typically required is to change the entire gas valve to accommodate the new fuel or replace the regulator valve or components thereof to accommodate the change in pressure. This can be a very expensive and time-consuming conversion. Also, some gas-powered devices, e.g., furnaces, hot water heaters, and so forth are built without knowing the preferences of the ultimate consumer. There are also situations where a preferred fuel will be available in the future, but the fuel-powered device needs to be operational today.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.